BACK PAGE | PAGE 22 BRANDWAGON | PAGE 9 71% of Indian varsities slip in QSAsia 2027 rankings INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Ready-to-drink segment is lifting liquor makers’ spirits BENGALURU, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2026 Midtermpolls:Adivided USvotesintestforTrump FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXIX 169, 38 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 76,917.85 ▲ 1,225.07 NIFTY: 23,810.85 ▲ 370.05 NIKKEI 225: 63,081.86 ▼ 208.25 HANG SENG: 23,525.97 ▲ 132.65 `/$: 94.75 ▲ 0.15 `/€: 106.03 ▲ 0.43 BRENT: $101.51 ▼ $3.26 GOLD: `1,37,034 ▲ `127 SENSEX HITS TWO-MONTH HIGH AS FPIs RETURN,OIL PRICES FALL 5%in4days:Stocksonaroll KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, November 3 COMPANIES PAGE 4 APPLE REVENUE IN INDIA HITS ALL-TIME HIGH APPLE REPORTED AN all-time high revenue in India in the September quarter, with strong demand for iPhones, Mac and services contributing to its performance, reports Ojasvi Gupta. 75,692 1.62% (1,225 points) 76,917 Nov 3 (close) 94.55 Nov 2 (close) 3.65 FMCG Realty Private banks Financial services Auto 2.33 1.98 1.84 1.71 concerns over inflation and India’simportbill.Addingtothe momentum, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) appear to be returning to Indian equities after a prolonged selling spree. 0.16% 94.74 94.75 94.85 94.95 ABHIJIT LELE Mumbai, November 3 STATE BANK OF India (SBI) on Tuesdayreported double-digit growth in its net profit and net interest income for the JulySeptember quarter, beating analyst estimates. The country’s largest lender’s standalone net profit grew 14.28% year-on-year to `23,038 crore »INSIDE« EVALUATING CAUSE OF DATA BREACH: SETTY P6 NSE PROFIT UP 23% IN FIRST QUARTER SINCE LISTING P6 for the second quarter of the current financialyear,aided by one-timegainsfromSBIFunds Management’s initial public offering (IPO). Analysts had estimated the bank to report a net profit of `22,619 crore, according to Bloomberg. While net profit showedhealthygrowth,operating profit declined to `26,937 crorefrom`27,310croreinthe year-ago period. The bank reported an exceptional gain of `7,288.47 crore against `4,593.22 crore ayearago. The lender’s net interest income (NII) grew 14.7% to `49,143 crore, while the net interest margin (NIM) was almost flat at 2.94% in Q2FY27 compared with 2.96% in theyear-ago quarter. Continued on Page 7 94.90 Nov 2 (close) Nov 3 (close) They purchased shares worth `32,317 crore ($3.4 billion) in the past 11 sessions, including `6,837 crore onTuesday. Continued on Page 7 SHARES SLIDE SBI (intra-day, Nov 3, 2026) 1.77 % 98 987.00 Pre Previous close 969.55 Open Ope ● Chandrasekaran says focus to be on building synergies (inverted scale) 94.65 Top sectoral gainers (%) croreduringthisperiod,including`4.53lakhcroreonTuesday. A sharp retreat in crude oil priceshasbeenkey.Brentcrude has fallen by $13 a barrel from its recent peak of $118, easing Re nudges higher on foreign fund inflows At 14%,SBI profit beats the Street India will not allow ● SBI Funds listing import of GM boosts bottom line products: Goyal INDIAWILL NOT allow genetically modified products and will continue to keep its dairy sector closed to imports under FTAs, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 10 SENSEX « IN THE NEWS BENCHMARK EQUITY INDICES surged nearly 1.6% on Tuesday to close at their highest levels in two months, extendingtheirwinningstreak tofoursessionsasfallingcrude oil prices and renewed foreign investor buying »INSIDE« fuelled a rally in large-capstocks. FPIs BUY The Sensex $3.4-BN SHARES jumped 1,225.10 IN 11 points,or 1.62%, DAYS to close at PAGE 6 76,917.88. The Nifty rose 370.05 points, or 1.58%, to settle at 23,810.85.Bothindicesoutperformed major Asian markets. The rally has gathered momentum in the past four sessions, withtheSensexclimbing5.01% and the Nifty 4.90%.Investors’ wealth swelled by `14.2 lakh INVESTOR WEALTH GROWS `14.2L CR DURING RALLY TaMo,Iveco plan India assembly Cl Close AKBAR MERCHANT Mumbai, November 3 TATA MOTORS AND the Italybased Iveco Group will pursue global growth through product synergies, localisation and technologysharing,with India emerging as a key manufacturing base. Having acquired a nearly 90% stake in Iveco at about €3.82 billion, or roughly `41,900 crore,the Tata Group will initially explore semiknocked-down (SKD) assembly in India for Iveco models, with scope for deeper localisation and deployment of Tata Motors’ platforms in Iveco’s international markets. Announcingthepartnership in Turin, Italy,Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said, “The companies would invest for the long term and leverage their combined capabilities to shape commercial transporta- N CHANDRASEKARAN, CHAIRMAN, TATA SONS Weareidentifying commonproducts forIndiaandwill startwithSKD (semi-knocked-down) manufacturing tion.The group has 27 manufacturing sites,25 research and development centres, around 9,300 sales and service outlets andmorethan73,000employees globally.” The integration creates the world’s fourthlargest commercial vehicle manufacturerbyvolume. Continued on Page 7 » INSIDE « PAGE 2 & 'Private sector investment picking up’ FinanceMinisterNirmala Sitharamansaysprivate investmentisgaining momentum,though companiesremain selectiveaboutsectors.In afiresidechatatthe FELeadershipAwardson Monday,shediscusses foreigncapital,jobs, corporateconcentration, industrialincentives,the consumptionoutlook andtheTatadispute. EDIT: TATAS MUST RECONCILE P8 AI expects to return to IndiGotorelyontie-ups profitability‘verysoon’ forlong-haulexpansion AIR INDIA EXPECTS to return to profitability “very soon”,CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said on Tuesday,evenastheairlinestepsupeffortstocut costs&expandinternationaloperationsthrough a larger wide-body fleet, reports Nitin Kumar. The CEO said he was more impatient than the shareholders to see it turn profitable. ■ PAGE 4 BENGALURU INDIGO WILL RELY on commercial partnerships with foreign airlines to support its longhaul expansion and does not see the need for a financial investor as it prepares to induct Airbus A350 aircraft from the second quarter of 2028, Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh said,reports Nitin Kumar. ■ PAGE 4
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